


To Write A Hero

by Leonawriter



Series: Commander Strife [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen, Heroism, POV Outsider, Sephiroth is mr. referred to but not appearing in this fic, Time Travel, Wutai War, so is Angeal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 02:23:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13261629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonawriter/pseuds/Leonawriter
Summary: Commander Strife was a sudden addition to SOLDIER, and Genesis finds him intriguing - but oddly disturbing - company. And then there are the older SOLDIER's views on dreams and heroism.





	To Write A Hero

"So. What's your dream, kid?"

Genesis started, and looked up at his older commanding officer, the man's eyes glowing with the mako blue of a SOLDIER. Which was... odd, because SOLDIER was a small faction of the Shinra Company, and they all knew each other. 

Then this man had turned up some few months ago, out of the blue, and the next thing any of them knew he was higher in rank than anyone else so far with that glow in their eyes.

That had  _bothered_ Genesis, at first.  _He_ had wanted to be the one to rise up in the ranks and reach First, and become so renowned that they started to call _him_ the hero as well as Sephiroth. He'd been quickly seeing that what they did wasn't all that difficult, and what Sephiroth did wasn't all that different. In theory, if he did more, pushed himself hard enough, did what was expected of him, then it would soon be  _his_ face in the papers.

 _The Crimson General_ had felt like it had a nice ring to it. It still did. That, or  _the Crimson Hero_. Either would do.

Currently, however, he was stationed under Commander Strife, and he had just seen the man take out a monster easily three times as big as any Genesis had seen so far in all of his fifteen years with that Buster-like sword, all while ensuring his men were helping in the best ways that would have fewer people injured, and he had even saved the lives of the  _Wutaian Ninja_ that had released it as part of a trap in the first place.

Still.

"Been hanging out with Angeal much lately, sir?"

The blond blinked, and shook his head with a smile.

"Nah, we haven't met yet. I was just remembering what the Director asked me when he let me in."

There was some sort of nostalgia in that, and the man seemed sad for some reason, but Genesis had the feeling that if he asked about  _that_ , then he wouldn't get any answers.

"And what did you say?"

Strife shrugged. "You tell me yours first."

"Fine," Genesis said, rolling his eyes and flipping at (dirty, still unwashed after that fight) hair, to pretend that he wasn't. "I want to be a hero. Like the character in LOVELESS."

He almost missed the way that the Commander's eyes turned sharp at that, sharp and then sad and then, with a sigh, it was all gone, and something about the way it was all aimed at  _him_ made a shiver run down his spine in the same way that seeing Strife angry that one time had reminded him almost  _unnaturally_ of Sephiroth.

"Just like the character, huh?"

"Of course."

"Then... how's that?"

"What?"

Strife sighed again, but this time it was one that he was more familiar with, from his teachers and the senior officers he'd had to work with before. It was the one that said  _I'm trying to teach you a lesson_ , and Genesis hated it every time he heard it.

"I mean... what makes them a hero? Did they ask for it, even?"

This time it was Genesis' turn to blink, confused.

"What makes- I don't know. They just  _are._ That's their role, isn't it? It's how they were written."

Strife shrugged, and they carried on for a while longer, the sounds of marching becoming white noise yet again, the rhythm of boots hitting dirt paths the steady beat they walked to.

And then-

"If they aren't written. What then?" Strife didn't wait for an answer. "People are gonna make heroes out of you for the damnedest things, kid. Sometimes it's PR, and you can't control that, because that's just what the  _company_ wants." Something about the way Strife said  _'company'_ like that made Genesis wonder even more about why the man was working for Shinra at all. It sounded more as though they didn't get along well, most of the time. "For the rest... it varies."

When it looked like he was done, Genesis glanced up again, putting those words away to think on later.

For now, though...

"And? You said you'd tell me what  _your_ dream was. You owe me that much, after tearing into mine."

"I didn't tear into it," Strife said, sounding like someone picking his words carefully, "I was just... making sure you knew where you were aiming yourself. It's different. As for me... it's simple and not all that interesting, really."

"What? After all this? Now I  _really_ want to know."

Their Commander gave an awkward shrug, made all the more awkward by his non-regulation single shoulder guard, which set the motion off balance somewhat, to Genesis' eye. It seemed to work for him though, and he was a First, and Firsts could alter their uniforms, so no one had asked him to change.

"I guess I just want to protect people," Strife said, and there was a weight to his words, a sense of  _finality_ , that spoke of - like when Angeal talked about  _honour_ and  _pride_ \- a sense of determination. Unlike Angeal, there was  _grief_ there too, and like the sadness and nostalgia from earlier, it set Genesis on edge.

"We're at war, in case you'd forgotten," he reminded the Commander.

The blond closed his eyes for a moment, before continuing to stare ahead with that same determination.

"Yeah," he said. "I know. And war shouldn't make heroes of any of us."

Which was ridiculous, of course. Sephiroth was already being lauded as a hero, and they were the same age - but the conversation seemed to be over.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by reading a fic where Genesis is around this age, and I started to imagine the conversation playing out. It's funny in a sense that the Genesis time travel fic I'm writing also has Genesis being 'mentored' in what it means to be a hero by Cloud Strife, although in that the mentoring happens mostly when they're both older, and sticks in Genesis' head.


End file.
